Sage has announced that they will exit the direct sales market for one of their flagship accounting products – Sage X3.
Previously Sage sold X3 through a Direct Team and a Partner Team. Sales that were made directly were also implemented with Sage’s own professional services team.
Moving forward Sage will eliminate the direct portion of sales and instead utilize a Sage X3 specialist team which will assist the partner channel in selling and supporting X3.
Most of the Sage direct staff have been re-aligned to other areas within X3 although there were reportedly a small number of staffing reductions.
My View: Publishers undoubtedly receive a significant number of inbound leads from prospects who locate the main product website. However, implementing and providing on-going service and support for complex ERP frequently requires either a local presence or some very specific industry expertise.
This is also likely a further acknowledgment that Sage X3’s target market is more mid-market than enterprise which also make staffing and servicing better suited to regional partner organizations.
